The 4 1/2 out of 5 star review of Fluid Mask 3 at MacWorld begins by saying that this "Photoshop plug-in takes the pain out of extracting backgrounds," and goes on to recommend the latest version, stating that "Fluid Mask 3.0.2 is a very effective tool for separating objects from their backgrounds. It offers a variety of useful features for tackling almost any difficult image, from wispy hair to complex foliage. Online video tutorials and live training sessions help ease the learning curve."

Fluid Mask 3 is designed for photographers, image editors, graphic designers and all those who take digital image editing seriously. In a streamlined interface and workflow, Fluid Mask 3 instantly shows key edges in the image and provides comprehensive easy to use tools that work with difficult-to-see edges and tricky areas like trees & lattices. Fluid Mask will also preserve all-important edge information for a professional quality cut out. Simply follow this discount link and pay only $129 for Fluid Mask 3. Features include:

Fastest masking available today - from loading to final cut-out. Turn hours of tedious work into something that's short to complete and fun to do.

Quick and easy to pick up, Fluid Mask 3 offers an intuitive workflow. Check out the edge guides that makes selecting the cut-out as easy as coloring by numbers and the always visible interactive help.

Amazing edge quality. Fluid Mask 3 takes blending to a new level by preserving the edge data. In the final result, natural edge blur and contour is preserved for the best, most authentic cut-outs ever.

Fluid Mask will also work in standalone mode (i.e. not as a plug-in).

There is now an XML based Help file which may be searched by sections or by keywords. Also included are video tutorials.

Fluid Mask may be used with a Wacom tablet, now pen pressure is hooked up to Brush Size.

Fluid Mask - Software OverviewFluid Mask is a highly advanced software tool designed to make life easier for everyone who creates cut outs. Built as a plug-in to Adobe Photoshop, Fluid Mask is the new next-generation cut-out tool. Behind the product is breakthrough technology that mimics the way the eye, optic-nerve and brain perform visual processing. It offers an intuitive, accurate and fast approach to cut outs.

Using Fluid Mask you apply selections to a meta-data layer of image information called the Image Information Layer (IIL). This is made up of boundary, texture and color information pulled from your image.

The benefits of this approach are:

It differentiates between hard and soft edges

Edges and color transitions are separated smoothly

Blending and masking are co-synchronous - no double work

There is less data to work on, so more speed - large images no problem

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NOTE: The Vertus Fluid Mask deal seems to be over, but we have a great alternative Photoshop cutout plugin - Topaz Labs ReMask - and it's even less expensive! Plus you'll get a 15% discount. Enter PHOTOSHOPSUPPORT during checkout and get $10.50 off and pay only $59.49. Read more about Topaz Labs ReMask below.

Topaz ReMask Photoshop Plugin - 15% Discount Code

Topaz ReMask is the ultimate masking and extraction tool that accelerates and simplifies the process of removing unwanted backgrounds from your digital images. It also allows users to quickly isolate an image area for a variety of selective adjustments such as: color correction, color change, detail enhancement, Bokeh effect, re-sizing and much more.

Topaz ReMask provides precise control over cutting the most intricate image elements such as hair, fur and transparent objects. ReMask even works to preserve edges and other fine detail elements.

Topaz ReMask is the quickest and easiest solution to masking and cutouts with professional results. It makes merging multiple image elements seamless, giving you ultimate control over refining your image scenes.

“Today’s photographers and graphic designers require advanced tools that are efficient as well as simple. The upgraded interface and new tools added to ReMask 2, on top of the already advanced masking algorithm developed in ReMask 1, allow for a better masking workflow and work environment,” says Kevin Zou, developer for Topaz Labs. “In addition, ReMask 2 now features improved memory management and increased processing speeds.”

Masking and cutting out image elements are very common tasks among photographers and graphic designers, but the process is generally very complex, tedious and slow. Small, intricate image details such as hair and fur are extremely difficult, if not sometimes impossible to accurately extract, but ReMask 2's advanced technology and edge detection do it very well. This affordable masking program offers professional results while cutting down on masking and extraction time.

“After the release of ReMask 1, we had an incredible amount of user-feedback and requests, so we felt it was necessary to immediately respond to their requests with ReMask 2,” said Eric Yang, marketing manager for Topaz Labs. “Topaz ReMask 2 includes a new user interface and a revamped workflow focused on making it easy to quickly and intuitively mask image elements without sacrificing detail."

Exclusive 15% Discount On Topaz ReMask 2 Simply follow this special link and enter our discount code PHOTOSHOPSUPPORT during the checkout process for an instant 15% discount on Topaz ReMask 2.Fluid Mask - Cutout GalleryOn the Fluid Mask Cutout Gallery Page you'll find some of the complex cut outs Fluid Mask can help you create. Getting such precision results may look like a lengthy process but each of these didn't take long to complete.

You can also Email your 'before' and 'after' cut-out images that were made using Fluid Mask. If your images appear on the gallery, you'll be sent a free copy of Fluid Mask for you to give to a friend.Fluid Mask - Free TrialDownload a free trial. Requirements: Adobe Photoshop 7.0 or higher.Exclusive Discount Price For Fluid Mask 3.0 - $129Vertus Software is offering Fluid Mask at the special 'friends and partner' discounted rate of just $129.

Interview With Fluid Mask Co-creator James Carr-Jones
The following interview between Jennifer Apple and James Carr-Jones is from July, 2005.Can you give me a little background on the origins of the company and who are its principals.A little confusing - Vertus is the customer facing expression of Heligon. And Heligon is a pure R&D company that specializes in creating image focused algorithms.

It was began some 8 years ago with a meeting between a physicist and an artist both of whom were interested in applied mathematical psychology and the way the eye, brain and optic nerve perform visual processing. This continues to be the inspiration and DNA of the company. Their mixed disciplines helped them develop new ideas and hypotheses. We are now 4 developers (our disciplines include statistics, mathematics, physics, engineering, applied psychology) and there are three of us on business development and IP.

Currently we are very interested in image segmentation and the nature of edges...

Can you outline for us the goals of the company, what is in store, what is in the pipeline...Vertus' aim is to provide a range of tools for graphics users. We like the Adobe platform for plug-ins  it provides a loose set of rules and expectation of behavior, and a great community - so we'll try to keep in there.

Some people dislike the plug-in environment because they think it's a cheap effects library (and some of it is) and others, on the developer side of the tracks, thinks it pins the price down so they develop for free standing only. I think it is a great platform and with a great community; and deep-graphic applications such as ours which offer our community real benefits (time saved, and quality of response) I'm sure will be attractive...

We have an exciting pipeline coming up. We will have the next version of Fluid Mask with even better edge finding and blending algorithms.

Then straight after that is Fluid Color enabling you to re-color all or separate bits of an object (stripes in a shirt  colors elements within skin) within the image (not having to go to layers) and blend those changes seamlessly in. We are also looking at two further elements for this, "clamping" colors - what to do with out-of-gamut colors - and exporting "image derived natural palettes." Further still there is this idea (work already begun) for Fluid Object  flattening colors and automatically vectoring an object's edges  like creating a vector path for a football as well as the patterns within the football.

Then it's taking this stuff to the moving environment... As for Heligon, it will continue to create its own IP and licence it to third parties independently of Vertus.

What are the advantages of Fluid Mask over other software of this nature, and specifically Photoshop channels, RGB procedures, and Mask Pro.I think you can only generalize and avoid absolutes when answering questions of this nature  there will always be an image, for instance, where using RGB channels in PS will be quicker. Having caveat-ed heavily in the front of this answer, I can now go on to say that in general I think that Fluid Mask is:

- Really easy to learn. Cutting-out has been this dark art for so long and it needn't be. People have often asked me about de-skilling this task and managing some of the pen tool techniques almost requires a degree course unit!

- Great on complex images. In our testing we deliberately use real world images (complex foreground and background) or difficult lattices such as natural objects and hair  in fact people have told us it is brilliant on hair.

- Cutting and blending. Gone should be the days of cutting and then going round and tidying up the edges. It's double work  and is just unacceptable! Just as unacceptable is the hair-cut approach to blending with an X pixel feather. This is purely a personal preference but I think an edge sits better when it has some of the noise that accompanies it (- I'm not talking above spectral effects and distortion...) I'm talking about natural edge noise such as skin-hair.

- Quick. I have to be careful here because cutting out a cornflakes packet would be better accomplished using 6 points on a vector path in Photoshop or a simple object contrasted against the background without much edge anomaly could be just as well picked out by filtering the RGB channel. But my experience is that in general 80% of a typical image is easy and it's that last 20% that soaks the time if you want a decent result. And that's where we win: our image information layer lets you make very quick mask selections and control the workspace; having simultaneous cutting and blending techniques; using the Local brush to find awkward edges; and pixel level control using the Region Editor and the Global brush. These all give you the edge (excuse the pun) over other methods. Take a look at the live demos and tutorials on our website...

What Photoshop gurus have tested Fluid Mask, and what were their remarks?We've only just launched and I have met with 4 gurus so far. They really put Fluid Mask (and me) through our paces and liked what they saw. What they were all really impressed by what we could do with complex images, lattices and hair - how we got that really right. Speed was impressive to all but for some images RGB channel manipulation was just as fast (these guys are really fast!) but to me (an average user) super tricky. But the more complex an image the more Fluid Mask pulled ahead in terms of speed and quality of result. As for names... I have to get there permission  I will try...

Please detail how Fluid Mask can be used with the Wacom Tablet.Well, painting masks and isolating areas of interest just become so much easier using the Wacom Tablet. This is a good moment to say that our analysis of the workflow when cutting out is that this process we do involves up to 40% of concentration on less that 11% of the pixels. We spend our lives shedding data when cutting out to get at the really important stuff and a Wacom Tablet is great for that approach. We are developing a new brush for the next version with the Wacom Tablet specifically in mind. It would allow you to select an area of interest using the brush and have all those colors immediately available in an editor and then assign them to different masks from the Editor or the image itself. This will give users the pixel level control on focused areas of pixels, such as hair ends, that they desire and need.

You are offering a special introductory price, is that right, at $399?Yes. Although we chose to launch in the Adobe Plug-in environment, Fluid Mask is a deep graphic application into which 15 man years have been poured. But that is not the justification for the introductory price of $399. The justification for the price is that this will give you great results especially in key areas such as lattices, complex backgrounds, and hair. It will increase the number of images in your libraries available for cutting out and it saves time.

As realistically as possible, describe the learning curve.I think there is an easy and short learning curve to achieve a "competent badge"  which is great cut-outs. Use the tutorials first and then experiment with images (yours or ours). Try one-mask and then some more complicated images which requires 2 masks. I think 2 hours watching and playing will do it for you.

Who is the primary user here? Is Fluid Mask primarily for design studios?We have had interest and purchases from catalogue companies, design studios, repro and pre-press houses, architects, photographers. You name it...

Can someone invest more time and reap the rewards, or is this a push-button plug-in, limited in scope?I think once you achieve competence, there is a whole lot more to learn which will have a direct bearing on the quality of your cut-outs. For instance, using the Image Information Layer to its best advantage such as filtering for camouflaged or high resolution scanned images will have direct payoffs, as will using the Region Editor.

Ultimately this is a professional product but we don't see why it should be so complicated that half the tools baffle even the most experienced users.

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The 4 1/2 out of 5 star review of Fluid Mask at MacWorld begins by saying that this "Photoshop plug-in takes the pain out of extracting backgrounds," and goes on to recommend the latest version, stating that "Fluid Mask is a very effective tool for separating objects from their backgrounds. It offers a variety of useful features for tackling almost any difficult image, from wispy hair to complex foliage. Online video tutorials and live training sessions help ease the learning curve."

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